David Rief DC

Posted • Today is Orange Shirt Day in so-called Canada. We need it in the so-called US, too. Google it.

I’m saying “so-called” because these lands had names before the ones the colonizers chose.

The US wasn’t “empty” when Europeans arrived. It was full of communities and cultures and languages. That was inconvenient for the goals and narratives.

Systems of power have always known that an effective way to silence people is through controlling what they learn and what they know.

When displacement and genocide were no longer sufficient, US and Canadian governments developed “residential schools”. While this started in the late 1800’s this isn’t “ancient” history.

As recently as the 1960’s, Indigenous children were stolen from their families, many of them never returned.

Those who did survive the “residential schools” came home profoundly changed by the abuse.

Today, we honor every single child who experienced this form of genocide. Those who lived and those who didn’t.

Many of those who didn’t survive were buried in mass unmarked graves. These children deserve to be found and returned.

Those who survived deserve all the care and support they want and need for their healing.

For Indigenous folx there is no forgetting. Every day these losses are felt.

Today, we all choose to remember. Every child matters. Every single child needs to be found and supported.

We remember.

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